use of el , la

Question

Fluencia has this She doesn't like meat. She prefers chicken. They translate it as A ella no le gusta la carne. Ella prefiere pollo.

Why is "la" used before "carne" and not before "pollo"

I a really have a lot of trouble figuring out when to use it and when not to

Note: If I put in into Google Translate in does put an "el" before "pollo" , but I know that google translate is not always the most accurate.

So , can someone clear this up for me.

Thanks

I hope you read bosquederoble's last paragraph which he edited in. I think it answers precisely what you asked. Keep going on your Spanish studies! - Jubilado, Sep 9, 2015

Answer 1

Indo European languages traditionally have gender, and historically it was 3 genders. German has 3 genders still. Spanish lost most of one gender to be down to 2. English lost genders. So not being used to gender, it is a concept that is hard for English speakers.

See the lesson here:

http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/1

Basically the gender has to be learned as part of the word, there are general rules, most of which have exceptions, but some like anything ending in ción (all feminine) are fairly ironclad.

There are also those tricky ones that start with a stressed "a", that are feminine but take the masculine article in the singular like agua. El agua fría- not el agua frío, not la agua fría.

The gender of an object has nothing to do with any association with gender you might think of- a dress, vestido, is masculine, and a button up men's dress shirt, camisa, is feminine.

carne is feminine so uses "la"for "the".

pollo is masculine so uses "el".

Whoops, I just reread your question, and see I misinterpreted it.

Now I think what you are asking relates to use or non-use of the article. When a generic noun is used as a subject- it always takes an article- with gustar, carne is the subject, and you are talking about meat in general. So it needs it. With preferir pollo is an object, and so the article is not required, even though it is generic/in general.

Thank you for your response. Yes I as not asking about the differnece in la and el but when tto use thej. The distinction between carne and pollo in this example still excapes me. :( - lfayb, Sep 9, 2015

Well, I understand that carne is feminine and pollos is masculine, but still in this example do not undersnatd why used one palce an not theo hter- to me it seems they are used the same way- jsut do not understand - lfayb, Sep 9, 2015

No, in the part I added- the difference is that carne is a subject, and pollo is a direct object. So carne requires an article, and pollo does not. :) - bosquederoble, Sep 9, 2015

Thanks! I needed to hear that about generic subjects! Is that explained somewhere on this site -besides the forum? - Jubilado, Sep 9, 2015

I was not picking up on the subject vs direct object thing- I do not remember reading that about using the article with the subject - Can you point me to where that is explained?. - lfayb, Sep 10, 2015

Answer 2

I do not know of any site that gives such rules.

Here is a post by someone trying to figure out the rules. It is interesting that his general thoughts are the same as mine. And he notes no matter what rule you come up with, something breaks it.

http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/270742/definite-article-rule-breakers

These are the "rules" that I follow for the inclusion/exclusion of the definite article in Spanish:

1. Include for a definite subject noun (as in English) El gato come ratones - The cat eats mice
2. Include for a general subject noun (unlike English) Los gatos comen ratones - Cats eat mice
3. Include for a definite object noun (as in English) El gato come el raton - The cat eats the mouse
4. Exclude for a general object noun (as in English) El gato come ratones - The cat eats mice --- Exception: Include if a general object noun is abstract or a category (unlike English) Exception to the exception: Exclude if a general abstract object noun is an academic subject (as in English).

Here is a link if it works that gives you more depth into the complexity- you have to scroll up and down some, you will probably have to cut and paste it:

[https://books.google.com/books?id=mEfKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=spanish+generic+nouns+and+articles+object+and+subject&source=bl&ots=kEcCzIIC7g&sig=rn5N_AIrhi1QH4GCBJ7ilCavcxM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDMQ6AEwA2oVChMIrZSR6b7rxwIVxqOICh1h0QTM#v=onepage&q=spanish generic nouns and articles object and subject&f=false][2]

[2]: https://books.google.com/books?id=mEfKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=spanish generic nouns and articles object and subject&source=bl&ots=kEcCzIIC7g&sig=rn5N_AIrhi1QH4GCBJ7ilCavcxM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDMQ6AEwA2oVChMIrZSR6b7rxwIVxqOICh1h0QTM#v=onepage&q=spanish generic nouns and articles object and subject&f=false

The last link works if you cut and paste it, and if you scroll up for a few pages and read through, you will get lots of info. :) - bosquederoble, Sep 10, 2015

great efort bosque - 000a35ff, Sep 10, 2015